American Express, today's pick for IBD 50 Stocks to Watch, finds itself near new highs with about a week left before its earnings report — an event that could trigger a breakout. The consensus of analysts polled by FactSet is second-quarter earnings of $3.23 a share, which would be a 12% increase from the year-ago period. Breaking down estimates further, analysts expect net interest income of $5.846 billion vs. $4.775 billion a year ago, with a net interest margin of 8.84% vs 7.65%.